Which Boosts pH the MOST? Top 14 Alkalinity Additives Tested.

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BRStv - Saltwater Aquariums & Reef Tanks

2 жыл бұрын

Not all alkalinity supplements are created equal when it comes to pH! Lucky for us, Randy has done the leg work and is sharing his results on which reef tank alkalinity supplement gives you the BEST bump in pH. Find out how your dosing additive of choice performs and check it out here!
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Пікірлер: 69

@madshepsreef282 2 жыл бұрын

I absolutely love learning about rising the PH and different ways I can put this into practice, thanks again for the knowledge I’m gaining.

@beteck007 2 жыл бұрын

Have been using Randy's sodium hydroxide recipe for well over a year and its great, one thing to consider is it gets very hot when mixing, certain containers will easily melt

@mikemcnamee6030 2 жыл бұрын

ALWAYS use ♻️ #2 HDPE plastic. Lye can damage or leach tin from other plastics. Lye leaks/spillage is a bit of a nightmare. I like to mix mine at half strength(0.5X) along with my soda ash so they also match bicarbonate strength. This is also helpful for temporary clouding/localized pH spikes. I toggle the alk additive being used to tune pH. To simplify dosing and minimize volumes, i mix my CaCl2 and TM part C at 5X- 2573g & 813g respectively for 1 gal of solution. At a 10:1 ratio dosing and adjusting is easy.

@markweston216 9 ай бұрын

What method is that. Do u have the recipes for it

@ruckus1745 2 жыл бұрын

Thank for all your investigates videos! I’m about to start dosing kalk and these have helped me tremendously!

@manuelescamilla7610 2 жыл бұрын

The right answer is Kalk Slurry, and just like every other product discussed in this video, if overdosed, it can be disastrous.

@lucamartino3007 2 жыл бұрын

Agreed. But it’s the unspoken step child in these ranks

@Cookiebit21 2 жыл бұрын

Great video Randy, always find information like this interesting. I use Tropic Marin part A and C and substitute part B with Soda Ash. Been doing this for years and my pH sits at 8.3 constantly.

@shirtdirt1874 2 жыл бұрын

great video!

@mikemcnamee6030 2 жыл бұрын

@03:00 Tropic Marin’s part B is NOT 100% bicarbonate. Somewhere, lou states that it’s 10-15% carbonate to mimic the alkalinity profile of seawater. It raises the pH 0.04 vs the rest at 0.01 or less. On a logarithmic scale that’s not “just” 0.03 more. It also says bicarc/carb on your website’s description.

@lycosa2000 Жыл бұрын

I used to never chase numbers, but I have gone absolutely crazy over pH with my new tank. New tank in a new house that has a CO2 problem. I think being able to monitor pH with a probe has just made it worse. I now own a CO2 level monitor that I keep in the room. I have my skimmer lines run outside and that air has to pass through a CO2 scrubber before getting to my skimmer. I've got 8.29 so far with the windows open and still trying to climb that mountain. I kind of wish I never started it. It's become a real PITA. The new tech has made me more aware and that comes with the price of now being overly concerned when it's not where I want it.

@saltwaterandlime 2 жыл бұрын

I know it really shouldn't have a much of an impact as it does, but running an airstone in the back chambers of my all in one tank with a pump that is sitting in a nearby window raises my pH from an average of 7.6 to a steady 8.2

@raisethereef 2 жыл бұрын

Soda Ash and any of the additives that contain sodium carbonate also pose a decent risk to your health if mishandled. It isn't as alkaline/strong as Lye but caution should still be used. Especially if you have sensitive skin or respiratory issues to begin with. In all reality, none of these chemicals should be taken lightly if you have kids or pets around. Definitey keep them locked up and not easily accessible if you know you have curious little ones around.

@mikemcnamee6030 2 жыл бұрын

100%. From experience, I know the ultra fine powdered soda ash is more hazardous than lye pellets.

@juanmanuelsanch 2 жыл бұрын

You have to do one with raising ph without adding Alk because you have a calcium reactor. That would awesome!

@RankinsReef1980 2 жыл бұрын

Looks like either soda ash or Kalk for me. Just leaning towards soda because it’s less volume need for similar results.

@devadroid5269 2 жыл бұрын

@6:54 "...my tank is in an environment free of children and pets." Come on Randy, I know you've got your dog in your office! I've been there and seen it with my own eyes. :p

@telegraham 2 жыл бұрын

This! 👆I’ve seen the pups, too.

@jeffatkins8103 Жыл бұрын

How do you boost ph without exploding your alkalinity levels? You mention raising alkalinity when I thought you were gonna say ph. Aren’t the two separate? I was using Kalkwasser at one time to boost my ph to 8.4 but my alk was going through the roof. What am I missing here?

@gregdyzma 2 жыл бұрын

I'm using Sodium Hydroxide for months. This chemical component completely replaced my standard KH Buffer. My solution is 100g per 1L . 130ml dosed at night keeping my PH and KH on levels as should be. Dangerous chemical but I loved. Please send me PM I you need any more info.

@y_gagaring 2 жыл бұрын

Lye makes me think of Fight Club!

@garrycole9187 2 жыл бұрын

You know some numbnut will overdose on lye by mistake. Thank you though for a thorough and sound test. I am glad I am using the right one for what I want in my tank.

@BRStv 2 жыл бұрын

Hopefully we were clear in our presentation that Lye is nothing to mess with.

@Botzz28 2 жыл бұрын

Any products that decrease pH?

@RoyClendaniel 2 жыл бұрын

I use sodium hydroxide because my basement is so high in CO2. It's the only thing that keeps my tank at 8.3 pH and Alk at 10.0.

@timlam2453 10 ай бұрын

Why wasn’t Seachem’s Marine Buffer tested?

@jackielau1536 2 жыл бұрын

Just want to throw my 2 cents in. Careful guys when u dose things that raise ph too much precipitation is very high with these additives. Meaning the chances of your return pump stopping, precipitation all over your sump and random precipitation events tend to happen. Especially with smaller tanks. I wouldn’t chase ph too much via additives.

@lucamartino3007 2 жыл бұрын

In the video you stated that 8.41 was a 5% increase in pH over 8.0. Randy, pH is based on a logarithmic scale. Thus your statement is not correct. Overall I appreciate what BRS is doing here. I will just suggest that it’s really important to understand the principles of the topic. And yeah Kalk Slurry would rock these tests. Kalk slurry is the bomb!!!! 💣 🧬 🧪 🔬

@bdanz5851 2 жыл бұрын

Looking forward to your investigative/explanation videos on the topic.....

@lucamartino3007 2 жыл бұрын

@@bdanz5851 I hear you. Like the statement that kalk’s effect on pH is temporary but the others aren’t. Well…..all pH boosts are temporary.

@mikemcnamee6030 2 жыл бұрын

Spot on

@almitiaustin 2 жыл бұрын

I would really like to see the results for all for reef, it adds the exact same ratio of calcium and alkalinity as kalkwasser, but at a fraction of an amount to dose... so does it raise pH the same as kalkwasser??

@BRStv 2 жыл бұрын

All For Reef utilizes calcium formate, so we wouldn't expect to see a pH bump

@ArulArul-ed6cu 2 жыл бұрын

Hi.i very like this chenel..but why..don't have an indonesia translation in the comments..please make it 🙂

@patterdalezipsuzilil Жыл бұрын

Soda lime reactor every day 😂 it also holds alkalinity depending on your air quality I find a cold northern wind has less co2 and I use more soda lime in summer I buff with soda ash or bicarb depending were my pH sits

@lunes-1 2 жыл бұрын

👍

@mime454 2 жыл бұрын

Can you do all for reef?

@telegraham 2 жыл бұрын

Interesting that it’s wasn’t included.

@rodster44 2 жыл бұрын

@@telegraham I tested the ph of the All for Reef Calcium formate solution. It has a ph of 6.8. So I expected it to lower my tank ph. Tropic Marin said it does not impact ph. When dosed to my 130 gallon medium demand reef, it was 0.1 lower than sodium carbonate dosing.

@aquaticnstuff7666 2 жыл бұрын

I just took my CO2 Scrubber offline a week ago. My next goal is to start dosing Kalkwasser again, slowly.

@RankinsReef1980 2 жыл бұрын

You willing to sale your scrubber?

@patrickcogley 2 жыл бұрын

Just for reference, they're called SDS (Safety Data Sheets)...they dropped the "M"

@bdanz5851 2 жыл бұрын

Sigh.........

@gonefishing5536 2 жыл бұрын

Wonder where potassium hydroxide would sit in this 🤔, potassium trace dose and pH boost kills 2 birds with one stone.

@lucamartino3007 2 жыл бұрын

You will massively overdose on potassium.

@mikemcnamee6030 2 жыл бұрын

A hydroxide is a hydroxide is a hydroxide. 1 mole of NaOH or KOH will have the exact same effect on pH and alkalinity. The problem is dosing KOH alone will quickly skyrocket your K level. My standard strength gallon CaCl2 dihydrate is 514.5gram. A matching soda ash solution = 371g. NaOH = 280g. KOH = 393g. 100ml of any additive will raise 100 gallons of water 1.4DKH. 100ml KOH will also raise K 19.2ppm. The entire gallon will raise it 726ppm. Keep in mind seawater is ~380ppm K

@shirtdirt1874 2 жыл бұрын

Just bought 7 pounds of brs soda ash lol

@tomg5405 2 жыл бұрын

Why not have tested the fauna marin kh it is one of the lost sell in the world?

@BRStv 2 жыл бұрын

I wish we could test them all! 😃

@RobTeeJr 2 жыл бұрын

Sea Chem Reef Fusion 1 and 2 ?

@BRStv 2 жыл бұрын

Trust me, I wish we could test all of the options out there! Seachem states that they use a mixture of carbonate and bicarbonate, so the pH bump should be somewhere in the middle.

@Botzz28 2 жыл бұрын

If your alk is really high does that mean your PH is elevated as well?

@BRStv 2 жыл бұрын

Potentially. It really depends on which alkalinity supplement you're using to get to that elevated pH. For example, soda ash will raise pH quite a bit like you saw in this video. On the flip side, if you're using sodium bicarbonate, you're not going to see an elevated pH with that same dose of alkalinity.

@eillyacostandinides3344 2 жыл бұрын

Wow. Thats not a brstv video thats a National geographic documentary man i wanna move to states just to buy from you. Or simply start international shipping

@BRStv 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks for the praise and support!

@sagrath1982 2 жыл бұрын

Any one tried chalk?

@raisethereef 2 жыл бұрын

Calcium carbonate? It does nothing to pH or alkalinty. It isn't soluble in our tanks. It simply binds to organics and yellowing pigments in our tanks. This is then removed by a filter sock or protein skimmer. KZ Coral Snow is just chalk BTW.

@sagrath1982 2 жыл бұрын

@@raisethereef thank you, calcium carbonate is been sold as other products, but the cheapest alternative is just chalk.

@ProducerReef 2 жыл бұрын

I want to raise PH without raising Alkalnity…Is this possible? Sodium Hydroxide?

@audiotom3855 2 жыл бұрын

No, every hydroxide will combinate to alk with Co2. Theres no stuff that only raises pH

@BRStv 2 жыл бұрын

All of these options discussed in the video will also raise alkalinity. To raise pH without alkalinity, you've got other options like running a CO2 scrubber, a line from your skimmer air intake outside, or large refugium/turf scrubber.

@bdanz5851 2 жыл бұрын

I run a CO2 recirculating scrubber (2 little fishies 550 reactor) using cheaper bulk size buckets of CO2 media, which lasts about 34 days in my system along with dosing kalk and this keeps my PH an average of 8.2 and a steady dkh of 8.5. As Alk demand increases, my plan is to continue using kalk to maintain the PH level and dose Tropic Marin Carbo Calcium (highly concentrated alk solution) additionally to meet the alk demands above what the kalk is supplying.@@BRStv